Method of treating asphalt shingles and composition therefor



1.. A. FRY 2,000,226

METHOD OF TREATING ASPHALT SHINGLES AND COMPOSITION THEREFOR May 7, 1935.

Filed Feb. 29, 1932 W? mm W k Patented May 7, 1935 UNITED STATES METHOD OF TREATING ASPHALT SHINGLES AND COMPOSITION THEREFOR Lloyd A. Fry, Chicago,

Ill., assignor of one-half to The Lehon Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application February 29, 1932, Serial No. 595,719

1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved method of treating composition shingles, commonly known as asphalt shingles, or other like articles, which are commonly formed by saturating a 5 sheet of rag or asbestos felt base with an asphalt of light consistency and coating or sealing the same with an asphalt of substantially heavier consistency, and further applying a coating of crushed mineral material to one surface thereof, and then cutting the sheet up into shingles or other objects adapted to be placed upon roofs or the like. The inner or body portion of these shingles is ordinarily saturated with a lighter grade of asphalt or the like than the surface portion and the cutting of the sheet into individual shingles or other units leaves exposed edges which are subject to the action of the weather so that the lighter saturating compounds are dissolved and dissipated and the shingle begins to deteriorate rapidly from the edge inwardly. Efforts have heretofore been made to solve this problem by dipping the completed shingles into compounds adapted to form protective coatings 'on the edges of the shingles but this dipping. process covers the coated and generally ornamental upper surface of the shingle so that it has to be resurfaced after the dipping process is completed and, in addition, no satisfactory compound has heretofore been discovered for coating and protecting the edges of theshingles only.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of treating asphalt shingles or the like according to which the edges of the shingles are sprayed with a protective coating without injuring or defacing those surfaces of the shingles to which a layer of crushed minerals or other material has been applied. A further important object of the invention is to provide an improved composition of matter which is peculiarly adapted for use in coating the edges of asphalt shingles or the like. A further object of the invention is to provide an improved composition of matter adapted to unite with the materials by which the base of the asphalt shingle is saturated and thus form a homogeneous bond therewith. Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved composition of matter comprising ingredients which are adapted to cooperate with each other to facilitate the application of the compound to the shingles and to provide a strong and durable coating along the edges of the shingles.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of treating shingles or the like according to which the cut edges of the shingles are sprayed with a protective coating in an improved and eflicient manner. Other objects of the invention relate to various features of the improved composition of matter and various steps of the improved method of application to the shingles or the like, which will appear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification, taken with the accompanying drawing in which one form of practicing the improved method has been somewhat diagrammatically illustrated.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an asphalt shingle of the type adapted to be treated by the method and composition of the present invention, looking toward the upper side of the shingle;

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a plurality of shingles of the form illustrated in Fig. 1 stacked in inverted position and having applied thereto the improved composition of matter of the present invention; and

Fig. 3 shows a transverse vertical section, on an enlarged scale, through a pile of shingles stacked as shown in Fig. 2, illustrating the applicationthereto of the coating compound.

Asphalt shingles or the like of the type herein referred to are commonly made by saturating a base of rag felt, or similar material, with asphalt of relatively light consistency and this felt, so saturated, is then coated on one or both sides, with an asphalt of substantially heavier consistency. While this heavy asphalt coating is still hot on one side of the-saturated sheet, a crushed mineral aggregate, such as crushed stone or the like, is applied to the sheet to form a distinctive protective surfacing, which may be in any one of various selected colors in order to give the resulting shingles a harmonious or ornamental appearance. When the heavy asphalt coating has hardened, the finished roofing sheet is passed through a cutting machine, where it is cut up into various desired shapes and sizes of roofing members, commonly known to the trade as asphalt or composition shingles. The blades of the cutting machine are adapted to impart beveled edges to the resulting shingles and it is the purpose of the present invention to protect these out edges by the improved composition of matter and method of application herein described. In Fig. 1 of the drawing there is illustrated an asphalt shingle ll! of the type herein described which is provided on its top surface with a crushed layer l0 of materials having great wear-resisting qualities as well as an ornamental appearance. This shingle is provided with out edges Ill which are ordinarily inclined or beveled downwardly and away from the coated surface l0 so that the uncoated surface of the shingle is of slightly smaller area than the surface I0 Although the method of application hereinafter described may be employed with various compounds, there is preferably employed as a protection for the cut edges l of the shingle, an asphaltic compound made up of certain ingredients combined in certain proportions by volume as follows:

Percent Resin 3% Gilsonite 33 Heavy painters and varnishers naptha 12. Light painters and varnishers naptha 51 Gilsonite is a hard bituminous material having a high melting point, usually about 400 F. and, for the purpose of retaining it in its liquid condition after being melted, and to facilitate its application to the shingles, the heavy and light naphthas are employed. "Although having the property of maintaining the gilsonite in liquid solution, the napthas tend to reduce its adhesive properties and to increase its fracturability and, in order to offset those disadvantages accruing to the gilsonite by the introduction of the napthas, the resin is introduced, preferably in the proportion stated, in order to increase the adhesive property of the compound and to reduce its fracturability. These ingredients are thoroughly stirred-and intermixed with each other and they form a liquid of such consistency that it may be applied under pressure by an atomizing gun or spraying apparatus so that large areas may be quickly and uniformly coated. This method of application expedites the drying of the vehicles which remain in the compound on the coated edges of the shingles and the compound itself has quick drying properties which render it particularly suitable for the purpose.

A further reason for employing this coating composition is that the ingredients thereof have the property of dissolving the asphalt which is in the immediate vicinity of the exposed edge of the shingle so that the compound forms a solution with the asphalt and, upon drying, forms a homogeneous bond therewith, so that the coating compound becomes an integral part of the shingle at the edge thereof. In treating the shingles by the method of the present invention, a considerable number of shingles, such as those having the form shown in Fig. 1, are piled in inverted positions with their bottom sides |0 directed upwardly, as shown in Fig. 2. They are preferably placed upon a support ll having a back plate I! and an end plate l3 so that two right angularly disposed edges of each shingle engage the back plate and the end plate and thus cause the pile of shingles to be superimposed upon each other with their out edges la in substantially vertical alignment, except for the irregularity which is produced by the beveled edges, as shown more particularly in Fig. 3. This pile M of shingles 10 may be from two to six feet high; for example, and the edges l0 of all of these shingles in the pile are adapted to be treated quickly and eflisurfaces of the edges of the shingles, as shown in i Fig. 3, thus applying a coating IE to these beveled edges without causing the material of the coating to engage and disfigure the top surfaces Ill of the shingles to which the protective coating of mineral or'the like has previously been applied. Due to the character of the composition and the method of application thereof, it dries quickly without running off of the beveled cut edges of the shingles onto other surfaces where the coating is not desired. By moving the gun or nozzle l5 progressively over the group of cut edges of the pile M of shingles, and controlling the atomizing discharge by a trigger IS the edges of the entire pile of shingles may be quickly supplied with the protective coating. As the spray is discharged from the gun or nozzle, the light naptha is immediately volatilized while the heavy naptha, which does not volatilize so readily, is projected onto the edges of the shingles and dissolves that portion of the asphalt adjacent the edges of the shingles to effect a perfect bond between this asphaltic compound and the resulting coating compound consisting of gilsonite and resin. The resin acts as an added binding factor and gives the coating at the edge of each shingle a toughness and resistanoe which is not obtained by the use of gilsonite alone. By applying the coating with the ornamental surfaces of the shingles substantially concealed, the protection of the edges may be accomplished without injuring those sur-,-

faces and, at the same time, the application of the coating tends to improve the shadow-line appearance of the shingles as a whole when a considerable number of them are assembled and laid in place on a roof.

Although one example of the improved method of the present invention and the preferred embodiment of the improved composition of matter have been set forth herein, it will be understood that the method may be practiced in various ways, and that the composition may vary, within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

The method of treating composition shingles having protective coatings on their upper sides and having cut edges which are beveled inwardly from their upper sides, whereby the upper side of each shingle is of larger area than its under side, which consists in forming a pile of said shingles with their beveled edges in substantial alignment and then directing at an acute angle to the side of said pile and substantially normal to said cut beveled edges a spray of protective coating adapted to form a bond with certain ingredients of said shingles and the coatings there- LLOYD A. FRY. 

